Beer Ranking by Style?

I don't know, really. It seems to me that those who consider style usually mention it in their review which is perhaps close to what you are suggesting.

 

I think mitigating is a complex problem. Rating to style would make the most sense if everyone rating the beer had extensive knowledge of the style and at least some appreciation for it.

But what about if you've only had one or two other beers in that style? Would you give it a high rating just because it was the best of those three? What about if you don't like the style? Then you might rate a beer that was not really true to the style higher than the best/most classic examples of the style because you don't like the style and prefer the outlier.

So rating to style poses its own problems.

In general I feel like a lot of people don't like giving beers that they don't like very much high ratings just because they are good within the style. For example, I don't really like IPAs so It would feel really weird to me to give an IPA a 5. How much you like the style tends to come through in your rating even when you rate to style in the sense that I generally rate my favorite beers from my favorite styes higher than my favorite beers from styles I am less fond of.

I do make an effort to rate to style though, because how else can you compare a sour ale against a light lager? Which one is better is going to largely depend on what mood you are in. I rarely drink light lagers, but I have to admit they can really hit the spot in hot weather. Hence one could argue that a well made light lager should receive just as high rating as a stout or IPA.

On the other hand I think you could argue some styles have inherently more potential for flavor than others. For instance, take the top beer list. I feel like a light lager would be somewhat out of place in the top 50 beers even if it was the best light lager in the word.

 

After having been metaphorically taken behind the woodshed a few times, I now ALWAYS rate to Style & not to personal taste, except for the Overall score, which remains my opportunity to give a numerical side to the verbiage in my review. I also make it a point to mention that I am reviewing to Style, especially if I am giving a beer what might be CANsidered a CANtentious score.

Unsure of how to rate to Style? This site's revamped "Beer Styles" guide should be your first stop. I used to have the old entries virtually memorized, but some of them were too short & pithy to be of real use. The new ones are abfab. Want even more? Get the BJCP app! I have BJCPDroid & I LOVE it, not just for Style guidelines, but also for SRM eyeball measurements. YMMV.

 

Rate it how you want, it’s all subjective anyway. If I rate a Pilsner a 5 most people won’t like it that much or think it’s a 5, and if I rate a stout a 5 some people don’t like stouts, some people don’t like IPAs, etc. it’s all your personal preference. I wouldn’t suggest rating beers higher than others if you don’t like them as much though. Then looking back at your ratings you might have some beers on your top list that you don’t like as much as the higher rated beers from the styles you like more. Just rate it as a beer. How good do you think it is for what it is going for, or for a beer within that style range. It doesn’t have to be exact science to count, it’s what you like. Everyone’s ratings are different.

 

Not keen at all. One, because styles are often too hard to pin down and two, imagine giving a really delicious beer low marks just because it doesn't fit the style definition.

 

We're asked to rate "with style in mind" and not "to style'- this eliminates the need to dock points for not being strict enough in one's interpretation, and it goes a long way towards reducing style bias if people were to do it that way.

 

That's what happened with me. For example, I rated Perrin Light Lager a 4.33 because it was the best light lager I've had and that rating is significantly higher than the 3.46 I gave to Spaten Oktoberfest because even though I like Spaten, I prefer other Oktoberfests. But if I had to compare Spaten with the light lager side by side, I would think Spaten is a much better beer. I don't think Perrin Light Lager is a great beer overall, it's just great as a Light Lager. Ninety percent of the time I am going to prefer the Oktoberfest but on a summer day in the mid 90s I will prefer the light lager.

 

This is exactly why I think codified beer style guidelines is/are interesting as a geeky art at best, and an endless source of confusion. Some beer "experts" just like to have things all tidy. I just like beer and buy what looks interesting. Being so precise about beer style nomenclature can be taken to the extreme.

 

Not entirely the same, but it might be nice to be able to sort a person's ratings by style. It would give one an idea of how a person rated beers of the same style to see how they rated beer a as compared to beers c,d,e etc.

 

I've always had a problem with the top beers lists that didn't handicap for style bias. In fact I would give far more credence to a top 100 beers by style than any list we've seen so far. Remember, if only a small fraction of Bud Light drinkers joined Ba and voted for their favorite beer Bud Light would be the top beer on every list BA has